2 supermarkets robbed by armed bandits

February 20, 1991

A gang of bandits armed with shotguns robbed two Baltimore supermarkets last night, police said.

At 8:20 p.m. three or four men, two with sawed-off shotguns and one with a handgun, entered the Super Fresh in the 600 block of Gorsuch Avenue and forced customers and employees to lie on the floor, said Dennis S. Hill, police spokesman.

Mr. Hill said the men robbed cash registers, then asked an employee to open the store safe. One of the men fired a shotgun at the ceiling, apparently to encourage the employee to open the safe faster, Mr. Hill said.

A customer who had left the store before the robbery hailed a policeman, who arrived as the robbers escaped, Mr. Hill said.

About 30 minutes later, police were called to a robbery at the Basics supermarket in the 5300 block of York Road.

Three men entered that store, two with shotguns and one with a handgun, and forced customers and employees to lie on the floor. The men fled after robbing two cash registers and the store safe, Mr. Hill said.